Why you struggle to stay motivated.

2023-03-14 · Long video (solo, talking head or whiteboard) · Ali · recording, 12:12 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Mindset, motivation and happiness · mode: Explanation and tutorial · tags: Evidence-based framing, Lesson from a book, Aimed at students, Feel-Good Productivity thesis, His medical past, He changed his mind, Sponsor segment present

Drawing on self-determination theory and Kennon Sheldon's Freely Determined, Ali sets out four types of motivation (intrinsic, extrinsic, introjected and identified), says he no longer holds that motivation is a myth and discipline is all you need, and gives five ways to build identified motivation: self-concordant goals, reminding yourself why you care, identity-based goals, making the task enjoyable, and choosing your mindset.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — The motivation spectrum: pure intrinsic and pure extrinsic motivation

★★ Ali describes a motivation spectrum: at one end pure intrinsic motivation, doing something for the joy of it, like video games or friends; at the other pure extrinsic motivation, doing it only for a reward or to avoid a punishment, like paying a parking fine. — 00:00:00
★★★ Understanding the four types of motivation on the spectrum, adding identified and introjected motivation to intrinsic and extrinsic, is in Ali's view the key to staying more motivated. — 00:00:29 · identified motivation

00:00:56 — Introjected and identified motivation; self-determination theory and Freely Determined

★★ Ali defines introjected motivation as doing something because you would feel shame or guilt if you did not, like studying for an exam you do not enjoy because your parents sacrificed for your education. — 00:00:58

“because you would personally feel a sense of shame or guilt if you didn't do the thing”
★★★ Ali calls identified motivation the key to staying motivated to do things you do not like: you do the thing because you have integrated its importance within yourself, not because it is enjoyable. — 00:01:27 · identified motivation

“because you've integrated within yourself the importance of doing the thing”
★★ Ali says the theory of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is self-determination theory, which Deci and Ryan came up with in the 1960s and which has been psychology's primary theory of motivation for the last 50 or 60 years. — 00:01:27
★ Within self-determination theory, Ali says, a mini theory called organismic integration theory explains identified motivation. — 00:01:56 · identified motivation
★★ Most of Kennon Sheldon's Freely Determined is about free will, determinism and behaviourism, but one chapter, chapter four as Ali recalls, blew his mind on motivation; he also read papers Sheldon cites. (hedged) — 00:01:56
★ Ali's example of identified motivation: studying for an exam is not enjoyable, but becoming a doctor at the end of a six-year medical degree is really important to him and part of his sense of self. — 00:02:26 · identified motivation

00:02:55 — Willpower and discipline, and how he made exam study enjoyable at medical school

★★★ Ali says he used to subscribe to the school of philosophy that motivation is a myth and that what you need is discipline and willpower. — 00:02:55
★★★ Ali calls the discipline approach a punitive, whip-based form of motivation that works for many people but not for far more; people who, like him, struggle with discipline and do not want to suffer through life should understand where motivation comes from. — 00:03:22
★★ Ali says discipline is still important, and some areas need micro discipline or micro willpower; the aim is to generate identified motivation or, ideally, to enjoy the thing. — 00:03:22 · identified motivation
★★ At medical school Ali made studying for exams more enjoyable: studying with friends in the same library, colour-coding his timetables, playing Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean music, and moving between coffee shops and libraries around Cambridge. — 00:03:55 · Cambridge

00:04:24 — Mental health and the BetterHelp sponsor read

00:05:52 — Intrinsic motivation is fragile; autonomy, and parents who force or support it

★★★ Intrinsic motivation is fragile, Ali says: even what starts as fun often does not stay that way. Being a YouTuber began as fun for him, making videos for fun, but once he wanted to stay consistent and grow the channel it stopped being fun; likewise some days people who enjoy the gym do not feel like going. — 00:05:52

“Intrinsic motivation is fragile.”
★★★ When intrinsic motivation runs out, Ali says, you either rely on willpower and discipline or connect the task to your sense of self; the answer is autonomy, feeling control over the outcome, the process and your mindset. — 00:06:21
★★ Ali says many studies show that when parents take autonomy away from children, such as by forcing them to play the piano, the children lose the intrinsic joy and motivation they had for it. — 00:06:21
★★ Studies Kennon Sheldon cites show, Ali says, that immigrant families who force their culture or religion on children make them more likely to rebel, while autonomy-supportive parents make children more likely to want to stay connected to it. — 00:07:05 · identified motivation

00:07:55 — Five strategies for identified motivation, from self-concordant goals to choosing your mindset

★★★ Ali's first strategy for staying motivated is to set self-concordant goals: ask why you actually want the goal and connect it to autonomy, doing it because you choose to and want the outcome, with no one forcing you. — 00:08:04 · identified motivation
★★★ Ali's second strategy: when motivation runs dry, consciously remind yourself that you care about the outcome; when he does not feel like the gym, he spends about five minutes reminding himself that getting fit matters to him, picturing himself at 50 or 60 wanting a flexible, mobile body to play with his grandkids. — 00:08:33
★★★ Ali's third strategy is identity-based goals: not going to the gym for six-pack abs, which is external, but because you want to be the sort of person who takes care of your health. — 00:09:02
★★ For the last few weeks Ali has set himself the identity goal of becoming a "cooking adventurer", a phrase he made up, and says it has made him more motivated to cook than ever before. — 00:09:32

“becoming a cooking adventurer”
★★ Andrew Huberman (quoted): Andrew Huberman advises telling yourself, in moments of the most intense friction, that the pain will evoke more dopamine release later, and that you are doing it by choice. — 00:10:01
★★★ Ali's fourth strategy is to make the thing more intrinsically motivating: associate reward with the challenge itself, the heavy lift or the hard study, and over time it genuinely becomes fun, giving almost unlimited intrinsic motivation. — 00:10:01
★★★ Ali's fifth strategy is mindset: you can always take autonomy over your own mind, so he replaces "I have to" with "I get to" or "I'm choosing to", because no one ever has to do anything. — 00:10:50

“no one ever has to do anything”
★★ As a doctor Ali had to go to work or lose his job and medical licence, but he convinced himself he chose, got, or was blessed to go to the hospital and save lives, taking ownership of his mindset when nothing else changed. — 00:11:19

00:11:48 — Getting started is procrastination; pointer to his procrastination guide

★ Even with identified motivation, Ali says, getting started can still be a struggle, and that is where procrastination comes in. — 00:11:48 · identified motivation

In the description and comments

★★ Ali says he has recently dived deep into motivation, what drives us as humans, for his book about productivity and through reading Kennon Sheldon's Freely Determined. — video description · Feel-Good Productivity (book)

Threads in this video

shift · Do you need motivation or discipline to get things done? — Ali says he used to subscribe to the school of philosophy that motivation is a myth and you need discipline and willpower; he now finds this punitive approach fails for many people and looks to where motivation comes from. (00:02:55)
refine · Do you need motivation or discipline to get things done? — Ali's fourth strategy is to make the thing more intrinsically motivating: associate reward with the challenge itself, the heavy lift or the hard study, and over time it genuinely becomes fun, giving almost unlimited intrinsic motivation. (00:10:01)
restate · Do you need motivation or discipline to get things done? — Ali's fifth strategy is mindset: you can always take autonomy over your own mind, so he replaces "I have to" with "I get to" or "I'm choosing to", because no one ever has to do anything. (00:10:50)
refine · Should you set goals, and how? — Ali's first strategy for staying motivated is to set self-concordant goals: ask why you actually want the goal and connect it to autonomy, doing it because you choose to and want the outcome, with no one forcing you. (00:08:04)
refine · How do you exercise consistently and get in shape? — Ali's second strategy: when motivation runs dry, consciously remind yourself that you care about the outcome; when he does not feel like the gym, he spends about five minutes reminding himself that getting fit matters to him, picturing himself at 50 or 60 wanting a flexible, mobile body to play with his grandkids. (00:08:33)
refine · How do you build a good habit and break a bad one? — Ali's third strategy is identity-based goals: not going to the gym for six-pack abs, which is external, but because you want to be the sort of person who takes care of your health. (00:09:02)
refine · How do you make boring work more enjoyable? — At medical school Ali made studying for exams more enjoyable: studying with friends in the same library, colour-coding his timetables, playing Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean music, and moving between coffee shops and libraries around Cambridge. (00:03:55)
kept · Ali promises a video on identified motivation (2023) — Ali publishes his promised video on identified motivation, Why you struggle to stay motivated. (00:01:27)

Where the stories that moved here went next

Ali promises a video on identified motivation (2023) — kept

Mentioned

Central: autonomy · identified motivation

Also: People: Andrew Huberman · Edward Deci · Richard Ryan

Works: Freely Determined · Huberman Lab · Pirates of the Caribbean · The Lord of the Rings · The Motivation Myth

Organizations: BetterHelp

Concepts: discipline · dopamine · extrinsic motivation · identity-based habits · introjected motivation · organismic integration theory · self-determination theory

Places: Cambridge

Only in the description or credits: Feel-Good Productivity (book) · Kennon Sheldon

Replies to

refers to · How to Beat Procrastination

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